


Abandoned

by buckyismymainman



Series: ACOTAR One Shots [6]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Talks of past physical abuse, pregnancy mention, talks of abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29988168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: Elain and Azriel adopt twin Illyrians that have been abandoned.  Years later when Elain learns that she’s pregnant one of the twins is unsure where they stand now that Elain and Azriel have a “real child”.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel
Series: ACOTAR One Shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2203890
Kudos: 35





	Abandoned

There weren’t a lot of times when Azriel found himself amongst the Illyrians. The memories that he had of his father and brothers had tainted these places for him for the rest of his life. Sometimes the memories still haunted his dreams, but since meeting Elain those had been few and far between. She had managed to chase away the nightmare with her gentle and loving presence. He now understood what Rhys and Feyre felt when sleeping next to one another.

Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of the days he could get away with not going to the Illyrian camps. Cassian needed his help and he wasn’t going to say no. Elain had kissed his cheek as he headed out the door and told him that she would be waiting when he came home. “I’ll make your favorites,” she said with a smile. “To make up for whatever you’ll have to deal with today.”

He had given her one of his smiles that was only reserved for her and held her in his arms for a little longer than was necessary. He told her to enjoy her day and that he would be home as soon as he could. They had only been married for a handful of years now, but sometimes he couldn’t actually believe that he got to come home to her. That he got to spend time with her.

Cassian had patted Azriel on his back when the two met at the House of Wind and before heading to the camp. “They haven’t been listening to me,” Cassian said. “They’re not training the females like they should be.” Azriel could hear the frustration in Cassian’s voice. While most camps had started training the females as instructed there were still a few that were slower to join the efforts.

“Is that really such a surprise?” Azriel slid his gaze toward Cassian and grinned. “You know how some of these bastards feel about females.” He chuckled, “Maybe you should have brought Nesta instead of me, I’m sure she could scare them a whole hell of a lot easier than I can.”

That got Cassian to chuckle, “She offered, but I think she should be my last choice for this. I want to scare them, not wipe them off the map.”

Azriel held back the comment that would suggest he would happily unleash Nesta upon the Illyrians, but he didn’t want to rehash those feelings. They simply went and talked to the camp Lord and argued back and forth a bit before calling it quits. Cassian had given them two weeks to start training the females, if they didn’t then they would have Death herself unleashed upon them and they wouldn’t like her when she came calling.

As Azriel and Cassian moved through the camp Azriel noted two children, a girl and a boy, huddled together begging for food, clothes, or coins. He wondered who they were and why they were out here, but he produced a handful of coins and handed them over to the children who looked at him with wonder in their eyes. At closer inspection, he realized that they were twins, rare, but not impossible.

As he flew home he wondered where they slept and if they would be okay in the mountains at night. Winter was fast approaching and he wondered if they would have some place warm to go. They reminded him so much of himself at that age. Forgotten and abandoned by their own people.

“What is it?” Elain asked as he pushed the food around on his plate. She knew that today would be hard for him, but this was different. “Did something happen?”

Azriel met her gaze, his fork hovering over his plate. “There were two children begging today on the street. They couldn’t have been older than eleven years old. I gave them some money, but I can’t stop thinking about them out there all alone. What will happen to them? They’re in such a backward thinking camp that I know as soon as the girl is old enough her wings will be clipped and he’ll train to fight.” He set his fork down to rub his face, “And all I could think of was that could have been me.”

Elain was quick to stand and round the table to wrap him in her arms. “Then we should bring them here,” she said without a moment’s hesitation. “If they have no one then they should have a safe place to go.”

Azriel looked at her, “Are you serious?”

She nodded, “Yes, we’ve talked about children before and I know we’re going to try to have some of our own, but I can’t leave children abandoned like that. I couldn’t bear to think of them alone and possibly dying while we have more than enough room to raise them here. They can have a choice.”

Azriel held her tightly, “Thank you.”

She smiled sweetly at him and said, “Go get them.”

“Come with me,” he stood, going to grab their cloaks and two spare ones. “They’ll need some reassurance that they’ll be okay.” He placed her cloak around her shoulders and fastened the button before doing his own cloak. 

Together they stepped through the shadows back to that camp he had been at earlier with Cassian. The camp was quieter than it had been, everyone having gone home for dinner and rest before the next day’s activities. Azriel sent out shadows to find the twins and they reported back that the two of them were in an alleyway. He and Elain followed the shadow’s instructions and found the twins huddled together fighting for warmth and using a blanket they had purchased with Azriel’s coins earlier.

They heard Elain and Azriel approaching and they seemed frightened at first but Elain smiled and said, “It’s all right.” She knelt before them, “My name is Elain Acheron, my sister is High Lady of this court, do you know her?” They nodded. “Would the two of you like someplace warm to stay tonight?”

Brother and sister shared a look before turning back to Elain and nodding. Pleased with their answer she held out both her hands to them and they slowly stood and took her hands. They moved back to Azriel who had been watching from a few feet away. When they were with him they traveled through the shadows back to Elain and Azriel’s home.

The twins stood in the spacious space and just stared at everything. Azriel went and grabbed a couple of plates while Elain whipped up what was leftover from what she had made. The twins watched the two of them and wondered what they were supposed to do. “Should we sit?” Ilina whispered to her brother.

“I don’t know,” Theo whispered back.

“You can sit,” Elain turned her head and grinned at the twins. “Make yourselves at home.”

_Home._

The twins had never had a home before. They had been abandoned when they were old enough to fend for themselves. Their mother had died during childbirth and their father hadn’t wanted them. He had only kept them alive as long as he had because the camp hadn’t had a birth in some time. But once they were old enough to fend for themselves he deemed them ready to face the world on their own.

They moved toward the table and sat just as Elain and Azriel put plates in front of them. Theo hesitated and looked toward the couple, “Why?”

Azriel knew what they meant. Why them? Why bring them here? “Because I know what it’s like to be abandoned by your family. I couldn’t stop thinking about how that that could have been me when I was your age and I wasn’t going to abandon you to that kind of fate.”

Ilina looked at her brother and then at Elain, “So we’re allowed to stay here?”

Elain nodded, “Yes, the two of you are more than welcome to stay with us. You can be a part of our family.” Ilina smiled, but Theo was going to be a harder sell. The two had been through a lot and he just wanted to protect his sister.

After they had eaten the twins were able to take baths and then given the choice of staying together in one room or having separate rooms. They decided to stay in the same room. Elain and Azriel bid them goodnight and told them that they would talk more in the morning.

Three years later the twins were still with Azriel and Elain. It had taken them a while, but they had found their way and everyone had accepted Elain and Azriel’s new children. They had even started called Elain and Azriel ‘mom and dad’ after about a year. They were happy together, though sometimes Theo was still a little wary of them. Wondering if today would be the day they decided they no longer wanted to take care of the twins.

Elain loved watching Azriel teach them how to fly. She loved it when Ilina would land and go, “Mom! Did you see that? I _flew_!”

Elain would pull her into her arms and go, “I did sweetheart! You did wonderful.”

Theo not wanting to be left out would muscle his way into the hug as well, “What about me, Mom?”

Elain would cup his cheeks and kiss his nose, “You did wonderfully as well, Theo.” She glanced at Azriel who was watching them from beyond, smiling at the sight of his family. “Go ask your father what he thought.”

And the twins would rush off to get Azriel’s approval of their flying techniques.

Things changed the day Elain found out she was pregnant. Ilina was the first to notice. She, Elain, Nuala, and Cerridwen were cooking at the River Estate. One minute they were laughing and the next, “Mom are you pregnant?”

Nuala and Cerridwen had turned to look at Elain with curious looks and Elain had paused. “I-I don’t know,” she had managed to stammer out.

Ilina squealed, “Am I going to have a new brother or sister?! Oh, I hope it’s a sister! We’d never hear the end of it from Dad and Theo if they outnumbered us.”

Feyre and Nesta chose that moment to come into the kitchen. “What’s the commotion?” Feyre had heard Ilina squealing, but didn’t know what it was about.

“Mom’s pregnant!”

Elain’s sisters whipped toward her, “You are?!”

“Whoa!” Elain held up her hands. “I don’t know. Ilina just said something, I don’t even know.” But one look at Nuala and Cerridwen said that they had sensed the same change Ilina had. “Call for Madja, let’s confirm this now,” Nesta urged, wanting to know if her sister was pregnant.

Madja arrived and confirmed that Elain was indeed pregnant. The women went crazy with squeals and laughter. Elain was excited, they had been trying for a while now, but it had always been a failure. She then told Ilina not to say anything that she had to be the one to tell the boys that she was with child. Her daughter nodded her head, just excited to be a big sister.

That night she sat the family down and said, “I’m pregnant.”

Ilina looked at her brother and father with a wide grin and Azriel stood going over to scoop Elain off her feet. “Really?” He asked breathlessly, excitement thrumming through his veins. She nodded her head and he kissed her.

But Theo had seemed reserved. He congratulated the pair and then had said he was tired and wanted to go to bed. Ilina stared after her brother and Elain and Azriel shared worried looks. “We should go talk to him,” Elain said calmly.

When they arrived at Theo’s room they discovered that he was curled on top of the covers and there were soft sniffles coming from him. “Go away,” he murmured when he heard his parents approaching.

“Theo darling,” Elain sat down beside him and stroked his hair. “What’s wrong?”

Azriel sat beside Elain, an arm wrapped around her, “You know you can talk to us about anything.”

Theo wouldn’t look at them, “You’re not going to want Ilina and I now that you have a real child.”

Elain gasped, “What?”

Theo sat up and looked at them, “You only took us in because you felt sorry for us and you couldn’t have children. Now that you’re having a child you’ll toss us out.”

Azriel gripped Theo’s shoulder, “That is the farthest thing from the truth. We took you in because you needed a home, a family. Just because your mother and I are having a child that is biologically related to us doesn’t mean that you’re no less our children than this one will be.”

“And this little one is going to need their big brother and sister to look out for them,” Elain said with a smile. “Maybe even teach them to fly.”

Theo wiped his eyes, “So… you’re not going to kick us out?”

“No sweetie, we’re not going to kick you out,” Elain said as she wiped a few more tears that fell down his cheeks. “You’re still going to be our son no matter what.”

He hugged his parents then, and he held onto them tightly as if they still might make him leave and this would be the last time he got to hold them. Ilina crept in then and got in on the hug before asking what they were going to name the child. Azriel laughed, “Let’s wait until they're here before we go naming them.”

Ten months later Elain had a baby girl who they named Seraphine. And when Seraphine was ten Azriel and Elain established a home for Illyrians and other Fae children that needed a home along with the help of Ilina and Theo who were excited to see their small family grow even larger.


End file.
